“The Aboriginal walkabout is a traditional rite of passage for young people, especially males, to transition from childhood to adulthood by undertaking a solitary journey through the wilderness and learn survival, connect with ancestral lands (Songlines), and demonstrate spiritual maturity and responsibility, involving skills like hunting, (finding) shelter and plant knowledge, though modern adaptations exist due to contemporary life pressures.” AI overview. No-one was thinking about a walkabout in the traditional sense, but in terms of the following story it is quite fitting: Maya Malherbe, 13, big brother Josh Malherbe, 17, and Coffee Shack surf coach Alex Grobelaar, 21, hatched a plan this past winter. Video footage of Lwandile Point landed up with them showing an excellent connection between the point and the sandbar.
The problem was recent rains had blown out the Mthatha River bridge so other than a crazy trip far inland to go round, the break was not accessible. Maya gave me the story: “We packed some snacks — apples, carrots, bread, peanut butter, eggs, pasta and water. We took some money for chips and lollipops, a board each, a wetsuit each, no bedding, a towel and some warm clothes.
We took R400 in cash, a cellphone and a JBL speaker.” Dad David Malherbe dropped the trio off at the Mthatha River Mouth. David and Belinda Malherbe are the owner operators of Coffee Bay Coffeeshack Backpackers. David is a maths and statistics graduate so he is no fool but word on the street is that Belinda is the smart one.
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Both have a significant history of international travel and have lived in the former Transkei region for decades, so they are not about to expose their children to any risk that they have not given due consideration — it takes a brave parent to give their children this amount of space. Maya and crew had to take a bit of a walk up the Mthatha River through the mangroves to find the ferryman and his rowboat to get them across the river. Maya says that four people and three surfboards made for quite a full boat.
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